Filing Under Seal Confidential Petition

In Doe v. Superior Court (1996) the court indicated, in pertinent part: "The petition before us was filed under seal and clearly marked 'confidential,' with a notation that neither the prosecutor nor county counsel were to be apprised of the appellant's request for an expert. The Superior Court, as the named respondent, was the only party served with a copy of the petition and its exhibits . . . the Court nevertheless turned the matter over to County Counsel (with copies of the petitioner's petition and the exhibits) and County Counsel filed a return on the Court's behalf . . . . We note that nothing should have been turned over to County Counsel by the Superior Court (Corenevsky v. Superior Court (1984) 36 Cal. 3d 307, 320, fn. 12 204 Cal. Rptr. 165, 682 P.2d 360.) The Superior Court could have filed its own return or, if County Counsel's assistance was needed, the Court should have provided County Counsel with a simple statement of the issue, without the facts of the offense charged against the petitioner, without the declarations about the petitioner's personal history, and without names. Since the only points County Counsel makes on the Court's behalf pertain to budgetary problems and other matters of court administration, there was no reason to disclose anything about this particular case."